Chapter 5
Daisy
The calm I felt in taking that step toward controlling my own life was short lived. Soon panic set in.
“What have I done? No! Come back!” I yelled into the darkness, but it was too late.
How long would it take them to notice I was missing? I’d been given meds later than usual. It wouldn’t be abnormal for me not to surface until noon or later the next day. The curtain to my bed was closed. No one would think anything of it.
I was so screwed.
Looking around, even with my wolf vision locked in, I saw no signs of humans anywhere. Just wide-open fields in every direction.
I sniffed the air and something about it felt familiar to the west. It was something at least, so I started walking in that direction, sticking to the roadside even though the bus was headed east.
Maybe we’d passed a nearby town that I could walk to and call for help.
I froze.
Shit!
I had never been allowed a cellphone or anything like that, but I did have a small wallet in my private area that at least had my identification, twenty dollars for an emergency, and Ronnie’s phone number.
He’d also had it inscribed into my iPod since I was most likely to have that on me. And I’d left it all on the bus.
Tears pricked my eyes. What was I going to do?
I had nothing but the clothes on my back—literally.
Turning back, I knew what I’d find there, but I did it anyway.
Darkness. With no sign of the bus in sight. At this point I couldn’t even hear the rumble of it in the distance.
This was a mistake; one I couldn’t just take back.
I had never been so alone before. The silence was deafening at first, but as I began to walk, I started to hear things .
. . a coyote way off in the distance, cows mooing, small critters scurrying across the ground, and an owl.
There were other sounds too, and they all brought back long forgotten memories from my past.
“Daisy, be quiet. Be still and listen. Do you hear it?”
“Hear what, Daddy?”
“Listen harder.”
I tried. I really, really did, but all I heard was the music in my head.
I started to hum it.
“No sweetie. Not that. Clear your mind of everything, even your song.”
“But I can’t, Daddy. All I hear is the music,” I whispered.
“Listen beyond the music.”
This time I concentrated really hard. And there it was, like a faint whisper on the wind.
I mimicked the sound of the mouse I heard chattering in a field.
“That’s my girl. I knew you could hear it.”
“It’s a mouse.”
“That’s right, sweet pea. It’s a mouse. As you grow big and strong your hearing will get even better and you’ll be able to hear everything.”
“Beyond the music, right?”
“Just beyond the music.”
I sniffled. “I hear it, Daddy,” I whispered into the night.
Somehow, I knew what direction I needed to go. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but it just felt right. Without second guessing myself, I jumped the ditch along the road and took off across the big open field.
Clearing my mind, I just ran and ran. For how long? I didn’t know.
When I finally came to a stop, my body was pulsating with energy.
“More,” I said aloud.
This time I took a moment to look around again. There was nothing.
I paused and really listened beyond the song in my head, because there was always a song in my head. There was nothing.
Smiling, I quickly stripped out of my clothes.
I gathered them up and created a small, secure pouch out of them, something I knew I could easily carry in my mouth.
Those clothes and my slippers that weren’t even real shoes were the only things I owned now.
I wasn’t about to lose those too. Once I was confident nothing would fall out, I was ready to go.
Looking up at the sky, I smiled, then closed my eyes and concentrated as a familiar ripple ran through my body. There was no pain or struggle. My body still knew exactly what to do as I dropped to the ground on all fours. This time when I looked up to the sky again, I howled happily.
Hello, friend, I thought in my mind, stretching my paws out and digging my claws into the hard earth.
Then I picked up my clothes in my mouth and took off running as fast as I could. Fast enough that I could feel the cold wind in my face before it flowed through my fur.
An indescribable peace washed over me as I ran in my wolf form. All the hardships, the fears, the criticism, all the negativity in my life just melted away like magic. There were no more hives or itching, no need for medications, and I wasn’t tired in the least.
I had no coherent destination as I ran on through the night into the great unknown. And as long as there weren’t lights or signs of civilization ahead, I didn’t care, and I didn’t stop. I just ran.
As was common for me, my mind inevitably began to focus on the rhythm of my thunderous paws hitting the ground. Soon a melody began to layer on top of it. The occasional sound of the night added a fun and unexpected layer to it as a new song was born.
Hours passed, listening to this new tune I’d created in my mind. No words, just music.
As the sky began to lighten, I stopped and looked around in all directions.
There was still nothing. And as it continued to rise, I saw the magical place I’d been running in.
It wasn’t just open fields. There were towering rock formations in the distance that looked as if they reached the sky and random patches of woods here and there.
I smiled to myself and continued to run.
Just before the sun peeked out, throwing the world around me into a spectacular symphony of colors, I noticed a fence just up ahead. Something about it surprised me.
Walking closer, I noticed it was barbed wire, making me sad that my open field had come to an end.
Beyond the fence seemed to be more open fields, and I wanted to run some more.
Instead, I walked along the fence until I came to a section near one of the small clusters of trees where it appeared one of them was likely struck by lightning and fell onto the fence.
This allowed me to cross over without dealing with the barbed wire.
The second I was on the other side of the fence, I froze.
Wolves.
Sniffing the air around me, I realized that familiar scent I’d been chasing was wolf shifters. I knew I wasn’t anywhere near home. I’d just crossed over into another Alpha’s territory.
While I knew that was against the rules, and I should not be here, I couldn’t bring myself to turn back.
The familiar scent of my kind was too enticing.
I’d lived with humans for so long now that I’d nearly forgotten how it felt.
Besides, I was in the middle of nowhere.
Just because an Alpha owned the land did not mean he was anywhere near here.
It didn’t even smell like he’d scented the area in years.
With the odds in my favor of never crossing paths with anyone, I went ahead and ventured deeper in until I came across a small den.
Now that I’d stopped running, I could feel the cold that was settling in and smell the fresh air hinting of snow coming.
I sighed. That was the last thing I needed right now. Being stranded in the middle of nowhere was bad enough. I’d run all night and still never saw a house, a manmade light of any kind, not even a car. There was absolutely nothing out here.
The den was cool and didn’t appear to have been used in a very long time. I had a feeling this was pretty much a forgotten area, which made it safe. Still, it was weird being in someone else’s den.
Back home, my parents had a small den in the woods behind our house. It was cozy and fun to play in. I’d never stayed there before but sometimes, like after a Pack run when they returned long after us kids had gone to bed, my parents would sleep in it.
It always smelled of them—safe, comfortable, family.
Chloe especially loved to play there. If there was a game of hide-and-seek going, that’s where she’d head every single time.
I didn’t usually let myself think of them, but out here, all alone, with the familiar smell of Pack surrounding me, even if it wasn’t my Pack, I felt safe enough to let the memories come to the surface.
I knew to stay in my fur. Even with the sun rising, I could feel the temperature dropping. It was safer in my wolf form. I nudged my clothes into the hole and then snuggled down into the den. It was warm inside, cozy.
For once, with Ronnie far away, I felt safe enough to let myself remember everything. I even pushed the music out of my mind and thought about all the good times I’d had as a child, before the fame. And there had been a lot of them.
Feeling content for the first time in a very long time, I drifted off to sleep. If snow was coming in, I knew I’d need to find better accommodation soon, but for now, this was perfect.